Rating: 
Summary: Good ,Better,Wonderful,amazing,perfect!
Review: This is truly one of the best books I've ever read in my life!It has much more magic detail than Tolkien,spectacularly developed characters,and an amazing plot.I ADORE IT!!!
This was reccomended to me by a friend ,and I finally read it (after the horendous book the Black Gryphon),and I finished it in a night and a day.Brooks develops the consequences of magic as well as the wonders.Truly ,this is the best Shannara book. Bremen,the Druid ,and his friend Kinson Ravenlock,have figured that Brona,the Warlock Lord is going to attack.He warns the High Druid Athabasca,but is not believed.He goes to consult the Shade of Galaphile,who shows him two visions:the Black Elfstone,and an Elf holding a sword.He sends his Elf -friend ,Tay Trefenwyd,to find the Black Elfstone,his Dwarf-friend ,Risca ,to prepare the Dwarves,and He himself sets on making the Sword.Warning:do not read Sword of Shannara before this ,or else it will be terribly predictable.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Fantasy
Review: I had decided that I wanted to try the "Shannara" series awhile ago after I gave up on it a few years ago. I picked up this book, the prequel to the whole "Shannara" series, "The First King of Shannara." From the first few pages of this superb epic I was drawn in to the lush characters, great world, and interesting plot. The novel has a certain tone to it, one that makes Brooks' writing seem very unique. Brooks tells the story here in an easy to read way that is simple yet seems very complex. Evil is stirring in the world and the Warlock Lord is gathering races to try to take over other races and get the world for himself. When one Druid, Bremen, warns his peers at the castle Paranor about the stirring evil, they don't believe him. Bremen, along with Druids Risca and Tay, Borderman Kinson, and Druid apprentice Mareth, they set out to try and fight the coming evil in the world. Through many exciting battles, magical duels, and suspense you will be on one of the best fantasy rides of your life! Terry Brooks here gives rich characters full of mysticism, wonder, adventure, and fun. All of the characters are original people of many different races. Because of the amount of main characters in the book, about four or so, the reader will be constantly entertained and boredom will never come. Furthermore, the characters in "First King of Shannara" have their weaknesses and their strengths making them believable. For example, the character of Jerle Shannara doesn't think that he is capable of carrying out and appointed task, but as he grows he can prove himself wrong. This is the same with many other characters as well. For fantasy readers that don't like the traditional sword and sorcery fare, then this book may not be for you. This novel has many of the traditional fantasy races, such as goblins, gnomes, trolls, elves, dwarves, you get the picture. This book is also high on magic. This book also has some clichés, such as the Skull Bearers, servants of the Warlock Lord. These creatures are just like the Ringwraiths of Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings." But then again, most books have borrowed some element from another book, so this didn't bother me too much. For somebody that is looking for an interesting and fun fantasy adventure, "The First King of Shannara" is recommended. I am now looking forward to reading more of Terry Brooks' fantasy novels in the "Shannara" series. Happy Reading!
Rating:
Summary: Captivating!
Review: If you're a fan Tolkien's the Lord of the Rings trilogy you'll certainly love Terry Brooks' First King of Shannara and the other books in the trilogy. The First King of Shannara is probably my favorite Shannara book; it explains the history of the rise of the War Lock Lord, the Druid histories, and the Sword of Shannara - and of course my favorite character Allanon. I couldn't put the book down!
Rating: 
Summary: Show and Tell...mostly tell
Review: Not having picked up a Terry Brooks tome in several years (finding the climax to the 'Scions' series utter rubbish) I began reading this recent Shannara text with no little dread, vaguely remembering everything I had disliked about Brook's books: flat charicters, small and limited world, and a smacking of creativity forever marred by close-nit archetypes that the author rarely escapes. In other words, I found the Shannara series far too rigid and unchanging, many of its books interchangible with one another. I'm now about two hundred pages into the text, and am seriously debating whether finishing it. It seems an unnecessary chore: fifty pages past I could predict where the polt was going and what would happen in the enevitable clash of good versus evil. The writing styles and/or originality of some fantasy authors can keep this sort of Tolkien-esque material enthralling (Jordan, Williams); sadly, the heavy and seemingly-rushed prose, the persistant 'telling' and not 'showing' of his characters and events, and the paint-by-numbers journey make this thing into an unpalapable dreck. ***And why does he continually refer to all the races as men? Trolls, Elves, Gnomes...does Brooks wish to convey that these are 'mutated' humans via his devised apocolyptic past? Interesting idea, except he contradicts this theory many times in the text ("...the mysterious faerie.")
Rating:
Summary: If you want to read a prequel, read "The Silmarillion."
Review: I can forgive Brooks' 11th grade writing style. I can forgive his lack of originality in what has become a largely unoriginal genre. I can forgive his mediocre treatment of plots stolen from others (who require no identification). I can even forgive him his unwarranted success. I can also forgive all of the young people -- who for some reason want made-for-TV books instead of great speculative fiction -- for their lack of patience and and low standards. Unfortunately, I have a little trouble understanding why anyone would feel any need to blindly discount or even attack Tolkien in order to defend Brooks, the Master of Fantasy Schlock. If you choose to read junk, that's your choice. If you choose to tear down what you can't even begin to understand, you are a coward. Tolkien Lives!
Rating:
Summary: Shows Brooks' improvement after years
Review: I prefered the prequel than the Trilogy he wrote before. Here he manages to include the whole quest in fewer words, whereas The Sword of Shannara, at times it becomes a bit boring. The Fall of Paranor: a very violent attack, described beautifully especially when a heart is brought out of a body because of the victim's stubborness; the Search of the Black Elfstone: in which my favourite character dies (but I'm used to that now!) and the Battle for the Rhenn: the most beautiful battle I ever experienced sitting on a sofa looking at ink on paper; were those fantastic events that put me on the edge of my seat. I also recommend the book to those who would like to see how a small boy and an old druid can destroy an army's plans by one simple action: Druid Fire, in the Battle for the Rhenn. It is a very good fast moving book reflecting here a new type of fantasy.
Rating:
Summary: Pretty craptacular
Review: Let's not even mention the contrived and imitated plots that Brooks includes in ALL of his books. Let's focus on his writing talent or lack thereof. Can we say "cheesy"? In an effort to capture a fantasy-world atmosphere his prose is a failed attempt at an elevated language. Narrative that is intended to be lofty comes off as tacky. And don't even get me started on his dialogue! Preia Starle begs Jerle Shannara to marry her (which, by the way, is a synthetic situaton in itself) and says: "Make me your wife. Make me your life's partner and helpmate, your closest confidante and forever friend." I know this is supposed to be fantasy but WHO TALKS LIKE THAT? Upon reading that line of drivel, I threw the book across the room and refused to pick it up again. The blame does not lie solely on the shoulders of that hack writer. I blame Del Rey publishers for putting this nonsense in stores and I blame indiscriminate readers for giving this book a 4 1/2 star rating and making this sorry excuse for an author think he has the talent and right to keep writing this rubbish. The thought of how much money this inept guy has from his lack of writing ability makes me want to jump off a tall building.
Rating:
Summary: Fantasy at it's best
Review: I absolutely love this book. It is a fantastic prequel to the whole Shannara series and I don't just mean the Shannara trilogy. There are some things that you would see in this book that would come up in things far past like in the Voyage of the Jerle Shannara series. I've read that Terry Brooks took ideas from LOTR. Alright I admit that some of the ideas are similar to LOTR but Mr.Brooks put his own personal touch into it. I read the Sword of Shannara in 6th grade but I stopped because I couldn't find Elfstones. I started to read Elfstones in 8th grade about half a month ago and I'm already on Isle Witch. First King is one of the few books my brother loves to read. I remember lending the paperback to my English teacher to read she returned and said she was sorry because the cover accidently came off. He threw a fit. Now my English teacher is reading Sword and according to her she now lives and breathes Shannara.
Rating: 
Summary: Refreshingly intense fantasy novel
Review: This is the first Shannara novel I have read in about 14 years. In that time I was surprised to see how graphic and violent the novel was. Most fantasy books I have read simply gloss over the fact that people die. Brooks makes sure you know that there was a loss and you feel it more. Another refreshing change was one of the main characters dies. I did not want to see the character pass, but it was nice to see that sometimes heroes fail. After being halfway through this book, I started looking at the Shannara series to see which "Trilogy" I should read next and I found out that this book contains a spoiler in reference to the Heritage of Shannnara series. Oops. I guess I will have to just act surprised. All in all I would recommend this book to any fan of fantasy, It was truly enjoyable.
Rating:
Summary: my look on shannara
Review: The First King of Shannara is the prelude to The Sword of Shannara and I think it is a great book. First King of Shannara is like the Lord of the Rings in many ways. The Warlock Lord (The Evil Wizard) has Skull Bearers, Gnomes, and Trolls under his control.
There are four races: Humans, Dwarfs, Elves, and Druids. None of them are powerful enough to defeat the army that the Warlock Lord commands, and if one race were to fall it would be nearly impossible to beat him. They could use spells, but fear the most of them too much to use. For every spell there is a consequence. The more powerful the spell the worse the consequence.
I liked this book because it has to do with the old world and magic, which are two things we don't have and never will. I also like that there are a lot of encounters they are a little confusing, but should make more sense if you read it for yourselves. I hope that you like this book as much as I did.
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